Lost Hearts

Is it much further?

Only a step. Don't lose heart.

I wasn't...

Whoa, steady, mare, steady.

- (Stephen) It's enormous! - It's a draughty old place.

- (Parkes) Master Stephen? - Yes.

He has come.

- Is that the boy, Parkes? - Yes, sir.

Come in, approach.

Help with the bags, help with the bags.

Well, Stephen, well.

- Here at last, eh? - Yes, sir.

You don't remember me? Your cousin, twice removed.

Peregrine Abney is my name. How do you do?

Very well, thank you, sir.

A fine, firm hand.

Warm-blooded, strong-pulsed, excellent.

- (Clock chimes) - How old are you, boy?

- I'm... - Twelve next birthday?

Yes, sir, the 31st of this month, sir.

Hallowe'en, excellent, couldn't be better.

- We shall celebrate, eh? - Thank you, sir.

It will be my pleasure, Stephen.

- Not too tired after your journey? - No, sir.

Good lad, you must eat a hearty meal.

You're certain you are twelve next birthday?

- Yes, sir. - And the 31st, better than better.

Benissimo.

Forgive me, I like to note these little things in my commonplace book.

Parkes, take this excellent boy down to Mrs Bunch,

tell her to feed him well,

plenty of butter, beef tea, nourish him, nourish him!

You mustn't mind him, lad, he has his ways.

But why does he want to write my age down?

He's a scholar, is Mr Abney, he writes everything down.

This way, Master Stephen.

My sakes, what a lad you are for questions.

Aye, Mr Abney's your cousin, that's certain. On your mother's side.

But he's so old!

Cousins come in all shapes and sizes.

And he's kindness itself.

He maybe an old bachelor, but he's very partial to children.

You're not the first little orphan

he's given an hearth and food and shelter, oh no!

My gracious goodness, no.

- There are other children here? - But they're gone now.

- Gone? - Over the hills and far away.

You eat your scone, Stephen.

You can ask Mr Abney about them yourself tomorrow.

Come in.

Come in, Stephen, good morning.

- Sleep well? - Yes, thank you, sir.

Good, that's the idea, plenty of sleep.

Mrs Bunch tells me you're a good lad, she's taken you to heart.

Indeed her words were,

"a kind lad with an enquiring frame of mind". That so?

She did say there had been other children in the house, sir.

Did she, quite so, but they've gone. Gone.

I like enquiring minds, have one myself.

There's so much to know, so much to learn in this old world, eh?

Yes, sir.

None of us given much time, life span, mere flicker, no time at all.

- (He hums) - Censorinus.

- Have you read Censorinus? - No, sir.

Excellent fellow. He searched... Dead now.

403 BC.

But his work lives on, immortal.

To some, to the chosen, immortality is given, Stephen.

May I explore the grounds, sir?

Course, no need to ask, lad.

Fresh air, plenty of exercise, roses in the cheeks.

Good, excellent.

Out to grass.

Quite the thing.

"And it is recorded by Simon Magus,

"that he was enabled to fly through the air."

Not yet.

Oh! Aargh!

Ah!

The explorer returns with wonders to retell, hmm?

Of antlers vast and deserts idle?

Of the cannibals that each other eat?

And men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders? Hmm? Hmm?

- No, sir, I just thought I saw a... - (Scratching)

What?

What?

Nothing, I saw nothing.

I only walked and climbed an old tree.

Good for the circulation.

That's a nice plant, at least the flower is.

Borage. Starflower, bee bread.

A leaf or two of this in a cup of claret, accelerates the heart, Stephen.

- What shall I do next? - Whatever you like, lad.

Mrs B, Mrs B, that little devil.

Ah, there you are.

Mrs B, you bring him with you this instant.

I never did.

- Well? - I didn't do it.

Who did, then?

I haven't even got a pen knife.

Mr Abney will have a word to say about this.

If I were him, I'd send you packing, boy.

Deeply incised?

Right into the grain, sir. He deserves a good leathering.

- You may go, Parkes. - Won't you even view the damage, sir?

Later. And take Mrs Bunch with you.

But I didn't do it, sir.

I believe you, dear boy.

- Then who did? - Who knows? Hermes Trismegistus?

"There are more things in heaven and earth..."

Don't concern yourself with it, dear boy.

Eat well, sleep well. We want you full of bounce for your birthday.

Crudely scored under great pressure.

Wood being too old and hard to have been so incised

by the hand of a living child.

Is Mr Abney a good man and will he go to heaven?

Good? Bless the child.

Did you never ask him about the little boy he took in, seven years back?

I tried to. Was he called Censorinus?

No, Giovanni was his name.

And the little girl, did he not tell you about her?

No.

Did she like climbing trees?

No, she was quite the little lady.

We called her Phoebe.

Was Mr Abney her cousin?

No, master brought her back from his walk one day.

And here she lived with us for three weeks, it might be.

And then, there was a trace of gypsy in her blood, I've always thought.

And then, one morning she was gone.

That's what Mr Abney said. Gone.

Out of her bed before one of us had opened an eye.

And neither track nor trace of her have we set eyes on since.

Master was a wonderful put-about, he had the dykes dragged.

Any there? Try it again!

It's my belief she was had away by the gypsies.

For there was singing round the house

for as much as an hour the night after she'd gone.

And lights in the woods like will-o'-the-wisps.

And the little boy... Giovanni?

That poor boy. He were a foreigner.

Master found him a-playing his hurdy-gurdy.

He had him in that very minute.

Mrs Bunch! Mrs Bunch!

Mrs Bunch?

- (Giovanni talks Italian) - Good, good.

Mrs B, the boy is staying.

His name is Giovanni. I want you to look after him, feed him.

He's an orphan, poor lad, both parents dead and only 12.

Bravo, bravo!

It went the same way with him.

He was off one morning, same as the girl.

They're an unruly lot, these foreign nations.

Was that his hurdy-gurdy?

He played a lovely tune on that, never without it.

Then why did he leave it behind?

Ah, another day is announced.

Another step towards victorious everlasting life

in this world.

Hearts.

Master Stephen?

Master Stephen?

Has the boy been dreaming?

Master Stephen?

There.